➙Despite a general downward trend in the cost of solar photovoltaic systems and components, the installed costs for PV still vary widely. A recent study
by the DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory examines the reasons for pricing differences and the characteristics of new PV installations at the low end of the price range.

“We find that low-priced PV systems – those cheaper than90% of other systems nationally – are more prevalent in localmarkets with fewer active providers and are more likely to beinstalled by companies that have more county-level experi-ence with PV systems,” explains Greg Nemet of the Univer-sity of Wisconsin-Madison, the lead author of the report.“Not surprisingly, low-priced PV systems are also associatedwith a variety of system characteristics. For example, suchsystems are more likely to be customer owned vs. leased, arelarger in size and use lower-efficiency modules. They’re alsoless likely to use tracking, building-integrated PV modules,micro-inverters or batteries.”After accounting for differences between markets, theanalysis also demonstrates significant price variationsbetween states. Compared to California, which was used asa reference state, PV systems were 51 times more likely to beless expensive in Maine, 23 times more likely in Arizona and10 times more likely in New Hampshire. Policy initiativescan also help affordable systems proliferate, the researchersnoted.

The study was based on analysis of over 40,000 PV
systems from 1-15 k W. The full text of Characteristics of
Low-Priced Solar Photovoltaic Systems in the United States is
available from Berkeley Lab at lbl.gov.

LEDs, Solar, Green BuildingsDrive City Efficiency Gains

➙Solar power, LED lighting and efficient building technologies are the most widely used strategies forcities to meet energy efficiency and climate goals,The survey polled 178 mayors, with 91% of respondentschoosing the three selections as “most promising” amongemerging efficiency technologies. The survey’s authors notedthat of the remaining 9%, nearly all noted at least one if nottwo of the three top picks, meaning that almost all respon-dents shared one of the three as a top priority.

The most popular focus area was found to be LED installation, with 41% of respondents noting it as a top priority,
followed by solar power (18%) and energy-efficient buildings (17%). The survey also found that funding issues was
the most commonly mentioned challenge to implementing
upgrades, with budget and funding limitations noted by 67%
of respondents. B